Radiator 'stacking' and pump flow rate

All good (and interesting!) points. I had not considered that GPU wattage is for the whole card, and of course that GPUs can run at a much higher safe temperature. And there's the bigger die size to consider... My head hurts. In any case a single BIX can handle 222Watts, with a 68CFM fan. It's a rough frame of reference, but it'll do.

 

Ok so I managed to take some measurements of what will be the front chamber of the case, and put together a model so that I can work out what I can actually fit in there. I'm using Hardware Labs Black Ice radiators as a reference.

So first I tried two GTX240s perpendicular, but these simply didn't fit in the space provided. Instead I swapped the side GTX for a GTS (slim) radiator instead:






As you can see, it's pretty tight! I thought I'd see if it would be better to substitute the other GTX for a GTS:






So I'd have a bit more room with two slim radiators, but would I lose that much cooling potential by shaving off approximately 50% of the thickness of the other radiator? From what you mentioned about the extra thick Alphacool, it shouldn't have too much of an impact right?

 

I don't think so. The thinner GTS's work better with quiet, low RPM fans.

 

The Black Ice GTS has about 30 fpi so even though thin is better suited to medium to high speed fans. The GTX is around 20 fpi so also benefits from medium to high speed fans.

 

Assuming my measurements are correct, these should *just* about fit. I seem to remember Cyprio had a similar cooling layout on his Apple Core Duo project, however he used a 120mm radiator on the side, with a fan acting as an exhaust above it. Sadly his build log has broken image links all the way through, so I can't see for certain how he arranged it.

I would hope that two GTS radiators, or something equivalent but equal in size, would do the trick. The fans are configured to pull air through the radiators, if that makes much difference.

 

The GTX is almost double the thickness of the GTS,high speed...preferably 38mm fans,are a requirement

 

I've still got a copy of Skinnees test results that include the BI GTX. Anything over 1400rpm will be effective but as you say, the faster the better.

 

Ok so I have made a decision to not keep the CDROM drive, this means that the area I have available to keep the radiators has increased vertically, so now I can install 360mm radiators instead of 240mm.

With that in mind, I might go for a thick 360mm radiator with push/pull fans, any thoughts?

 

If you want to use quieter fans then I'd suggest the Black Ice SR1 360 which does well with slow to medium speed fans (and OK with high speed). For medium to high speed fans then the Black Ice GTX 360. Black Ice manufacture high quality rads.

In the past I would have recommended Alphacool rads but since they were released the price has gone up and the quality has gone down. I suspect the rads that went out to reviewers were cherry picked, all 3 of mine are dented or scratched to some degree. When I bought them they were keenly priced, now I would RMA them if I'd paid the current prices.

 

Back in the day I had a GTX240, which was planned for a mod that never happened. I ended up selling the radiator unused for a bit less than I bought it, but I'd agree that the build quality was pretty good.